A Design Lover’s Guide to Sustainable Travel in 2020

Rem Koolhaas’s OMA executed the recent expansion of Desa Potato Head in Bali, which founder Ronald Akili will continue to unveil in 2020. The 168-room hotel and multipurpose venue showcase eco-chic furniture (materials include recycled ocean plastic and textile offcuts generated by local weavers) and advance the bohemian-flavored compound’s zero-waste ethos; guests can even melt down plastic bags and bottles at the on-site Sustainism Lab, a workshop for creative repurposing of trash. Meanwhile, at Bawah Reserve, situated at the other end of the Indonesian archipelago, all waste paper is mulched, all food waste composted, crushed glass is repurposed to filter drinking water, and solar-powered boats shuttle guests between the buzzworthy resort’s six private islands.

The very notion of natural beauty is being redefined in the Maldives, where a quarter of the nation’s resorts recently pledged to stop removing seagrass—which is beneficial for both wildlife and carbon absorption—from their lagoons. Coming from a place that is often compared to paradise, aesthetic accommodations like this one should not be underestimated.

Though cruising represents just 2% of the travel industry, the sector’s waste and carbon footprint loom distressingly large. The heavy fuel oil used by these mega-vessels is among the dirtiest in the world, and most operators have resisted the expensive switch to low-sulfur alternatives. Carnival, which serves as many as half the world’s 11 million annual cruise passengers, has been fined more than once for illegal waste-dumping at sea—though to its credit, the industry giant is among those phasing out single-use plastic.

European luxury lines have not only taken the lead, but also made the eco-friendlier future of cruising seem improbably stylish. Fresh off its maiden voyage, Hurtigruten’s MS Roald Amundsen features lots of natural materials (birchwood, granite, wool) in its interiors and wall decor curated by the Queen of Norway’s foundation for young artists—and is also partly powered by organic waste matter, including dead fish. The Norwegian company has partnered with Rolls-Royce to retrofit most of its fleet to hybrid power by 2021.

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When the Commandant Charcot is unveiled in 2021, the icebreaker will be the first vessel of its kind to travel under hybrid electric and liquefied natural gas, or LNG. It’s one of many developments underway for Ponant since the French cruise line’s acquisition four years ago by luxury mogul Francois Pinault. The Charcot promises enough sleekness and polish to impress an oligarch, but also a sense of romance rooted in the company’s origins as a nostalgic alternative to ’80s superyachts. A signature Ponant element, albeit one absent from the expedition-oriented Charcot, is an underwater lounge with portholes shaped like whale eyes—where, in order to encourage a meditative atmosphere, nothing stronger than beer or wine is served.